NozoEli Under the Stars
by BiderSweet
Summary: Nozomi and Eli do some stargazing and engage in some silly but sweet conversation. Just a simple little one-shot that takes place during the events of episode 12 of the second season.


"Aren't the stars beautiful, Elichi? Who would've imagined that bright burning balls of gas contrasted against a dark, inky backdrop would be so breathtaking?"

"I dunno but they sure light up the night sky. Speaking of which, why did you tell everyone that I'm afraid of the dark!?

"That's because you make a cute face whenever I tease you. Although, I expected you to cling on to me, not Kotori, when Maki flipped the switch."

"Well, she was closer to me at the moment."

"Maybe so, but now I'm the closest to you."

Nozomi cuddled up to Eli as they laid on their backs while holding hands on their school's rooftop. Tonight all of the girls had a sleepover at the school and tomorrow they had the big Love Live competition. Eli and Nozomi ignored the "sleep" part of the sleepover and used the time that everyone else was in dream land to go on a little stargazing adventure.

Their eyes were fixated on the sky when Nozomi pointed at it with her unoccupied hand and exclaimed,

"Wow! Look Elichi! I can see Leo!"

"Leo? You mean that constellation that looks like a lion? Where do you see it? All I see are a bunch of stars randomly placed up there..."

Being the ameutur astrologer that she is, Nozomi tried to explain the constellation's location to Eli but Eli just couldn't find it.

"I'm sorry Nozomi but I can't see it. It's incredible how you are able to make out constellations like that."

"Honestly Elichi, it's not all that difficult."

"Yeah, maybe for you it's not but I'm practically blind when it comes to stuff like this."

Nozomi kissed Eli's cheek and said, "That's okay Elichi. You're good at plenty of other things."

"Like?"

"You're an amazing dancer. You move so gracefully. Also, you can get any task done when you put your mind to it."

"Do you really think of me that way?" Eli was getting bashful from all of the nice things Nozomi was saying about her.

"Of course I do! Plus, did you know, those are two of the characteristics of a Libra?"

"They are? That's interesting. What sign are you, Nozomi?"

"Me? I'm a Gemini! We're very fun-loving folk."

"I don't know about that... Sometimes it's not fun loving you."

Nozomi let go of Eli's hand and playfully punched her in the arm.

"That was very rude of you to say, Elichi!"

"Heheh! I'm just goofing around."

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past them, ruffling their bangs up a bit. Eli commented about it,

"Brr, that was a chilly breeze!"

"Oh, that reminds me! Both Libra and Gemini have air as their element."

"That's pretty ironic."

"I know, right? Also, both of them are made up of two parts."

"Two parts? What are the two parts?"

"Well, Gemini are twins and twins are obviously made up of two people. Then we have Libra which is represented by a scale and there are two sides of a scale."

"So what are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that you are my twin and I am the other side of your scale when it comes to our zodiac signs."

"Did you just make that up, Nozomi? That's awfully romantic.

"Uh-huh, but it makes sense though, no?"

"It makes sense but don't you think that you're being way too deep about all of this?"

"Nothin's too deep unless you start drowning in it."

"You have a remark for everything, don't you?"

Nozomi didn't reply back just to mess with Eli which annoyed Eli greatly.

"Nozomi! What am I going to do with you?"

"Elichi is going to love me forever and ever! That's what you're gonna do with me."

"That was a rhetorical question. You weren't suppose to answer it."

"Like you said, I have an answer for everything... but more importantly, you will love me forever, won't you?"

Nozomi looked at Eli with worrisome eyes, hoping that Eli will tell her what she wanted to hear. This put Eli on the spot. Normally Eli would say something like, "Well, we are all going to die someday so I can't love you forever.", but she didn't want to make Nozomi sad even though Nozomi was already aware of every humans' inevitable fate.

It was one of those, "don't ruin the moment" situations so Eli said something a little more heart-warming,

"I'll love you forever and ever."

"That's nice Elichi, but I can't say that I feel the same way. I can't love you forever."

Nozomi took Eli's attempt at being sensitive and stomped on it until it was shattered into little tiny pieces with that response.

"W-what do you mean, Nozomi?"

"Well, we are all going to die someday so I can't love you forever..." Nozomi copied what Eli originally would've said but then she added, "... but in the afterlife I'm pretty sure that there is no concept of time so forever won't exist. That means I'll love you to the extent of whatever medium is available that is, if there even is one."

When Nozomi finished speaking Eli just stared at her blankly for a few seconds and then muttered,

"That was so deep that I drowned while trying to understand it."

"That's no good! You need CPR!"

So Nozomi did the cliched "kiss of life" on Eli... Except that she did the actual CPR maneuver and blew air into Eli's lungs which made her cough. Eli sat up abruptly to recover.

"Ack! Ugh... Why did you do that!?"

"You were drowning so I helped you. I also enchanted your spirit with my Gemini air element at the same time."

"How wonderful.", said Eli sarcastically.

"Cheer up! Was it really that horrible or are you just mad that I didn't give you a proper kiss?", teased Nozomi with a slick smirk.

"Do I even have to answer?", asked Eli while turning her head away from Nozomi's gaze.

"Nope, 'cuz Elichi is just so easy to read."

Nozomi gently guided Eli's face towards her own and gave Eli a genuine kiss under the comforting blanket of stars.

When they parted, Nozomi stood up and held out her hand. Eli reached for it and stood up as well. Then Nozomi said,

"Hey Elichi, let's go back inside. It's getting a bit brisk out here. I wouldn't want either of us to catch a cold, especially since we have that really important concert tomorrow."

"Sounds good, but I have one request."

"What is it, Elichi?"

"Do you think we could sleep in the same futon? It's kinda cold in the room so I was thinking that sharing body heat would warm us up."

"As much as I'd like to, I'm gonna have to decline this time."

"Huh? Why?" Eli was surprised with Nozomi's answer. It was usually Nozomi who would initiate stuff like this so it was odd that she said no.

"We really need our rest tonight and I don't think we'll get it if we sleep together."

"How come?"

"Because, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you if we did."

A blush illuminated Eli's face.

"N-Nozomi! Don't say that!"

"What, I was only telling the truth. Anyway, we should hurry up and get in there."

"Right..."

* * *

The girls returned to their sleeping quarters in the clubroom. Everyone else had determined expressions as they slept. They were probably dreaming about the Love Live competition that awaited them. Soon Nozomi and Eli would join them in their slumber and have similar dreams but first they had to say goodnight to their beloved best friend after they slipped under the covers of their futons.

"G'night my wonderful and beautiful Elichika.", said Nozomi fondly.

"Goodnight, Nozomi. Sleep well."

"Thanks. You too."

They both drifted off to sleep with content smiles and with thoughts of stars and their other half on their minds.


End file.
